Ripples

This post is going to be a little bit of a departure from what I have been posting, you will understand why, I hope.

     I was thinking about the footprints we leave in other people's lives as we walk through this thing we call life. Whenever we cross someone's path we leave footprints in their lives, evidence that we have been there. We might leave deep impressions or we may leave only the faintest of marks, but we leave some sort of impression. My goal is to leave deep, lasting impressions in people's lives.

     The thing that got me thinking about this was the death of one of the people who left some of the deepest impressions in my life. That person was Isabel Lockwood Field, my grandmother. The footprints she left in this world were very deep indeed. After my parents, she has had the biggest impact on my life. Much of who I am today is due to her walking through my life.

     A funny thing about the footprints we leave in people's lives, they have the ability to impact people we have never met. They can be passed on by the people we left them in. Like the ripples in a pond, the impact travels beyond the initial point of contact. My grandmother is touching the lives of teenagers she never met. As I influence the lives of the teenagers I stand in front of every day, the marks my grandmother left in me are being passed on into their lives. The ripples that were started 45 years ago in New Jersey are still spreading and having an impact here in Georgia today.

     So as you are on your journey through this life, consider the footprints you are leaving in the lives of the people you come in contact with. You have no idea how far reaching an impact you are having.

Look to the Hills

     Elisha's servant was getting nervous. He kept warning Elisha that the Syrians would tire of having their plans foiled. "Soon," he kept warning Elisha, "soon they will come for you, not the king."

     Sure enough, one morning as the servant arose early to begin the day's chores, he went outside. Once outside he stretched and looked around. What he saw made his heart stop. All around him, as far as he could see, were enemy troops. In his fear he dropped what he was doing and ran back in for Elisha. His shouting awoke the prophet. Elisha listened to the stammering of his servant and followed him outside. Outside, he looked around and said to his servant, "There are more with us than against us." Then he prayed that his servant's eyes be opened. Instantly his servant saw horsemen and chariots of fire on every hilltop.

     When you wake up and find the world encamped around you. Look to the hills and know that there are more with you than against you.

Follow Me.

     "Take up your cross and follow me." Have you ever really stopped to think about what this means? I did recently and a few things stuck me. First, what does it mean to take up your cross?

     To me the fact that we are to "take up our cross" implies it is a voluntary act. We need to take the initiative to take it up, it isn't placed upon us. The cross isn't some burden that we have to live with, it is some task that we need to complete, or some job that we need to do.

     Next Jesus tells us that we need to follow Him. The word follow He used means to take the same road. Jesus  tells us to take the same road He is. We need to walk the same road He did and that road leads to Calvary. Jesus wants us to take up our cross and take it to Calvary.

     So, we are to willingly take up the task placed before us and carry it all the way to Calvary, to completion. We have to take up our cross and follow Him, not take up our cross and wait for Him. This whole verse is about moving forward toward the cross of Jesus.

     So what is it that Jesus has laid before you that you need to carry on your way to Calvary? There is some task, some ministry opportunity, some person that you are being called to take up; will you take it up and walk the road to Calvary behind Jesus?